 |
| Residents stand outside their tent
at a temporary camp as Mount Talang is seen spewing volcanic
clouds in the background, in Lembah Gumanti, near the town of
Solok, West Sumatra, Friday,
April 15, 2005.
(AP) | |
Scientists have warned hikers and visitors to stay
away from two more Indonesian volcanoes, a day after another volcano spewed
ash on disaster-stricken Sumatra island and forced the evacuation
of some 25,000 people.
Sensors on the slopes of the two mountains -- Anak Krakatoa on the
southern tip of Sumatra and Tangkuban Prahu in Java -- picked up an
increase in volcanic activity and a buildup of gases, government
volcanologist Syamsul Rizal said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Mount Talang, also on Sumatra, sent clouds of gas high into
the air. Some 25,000 people have fled the area around the volcano and are
staying in tents and public buildings.
Vulcanologists said it was possible the increased
volcanic activity could be linked to recent earthquakes that have rocked
Sumatra, including one on March 28 that killed 600 people on
the outlying
island of Nias.
"The thing that links these together is the first earthquake. It was
such a huge event. We have to expect it to take about six months to get
back to normal," Gary Gibson, from the Seismology Research Center in
Canberra, Australia told CNN on Thursday.
"Volcanoes will be affected by stress on the earth
and changes in stress may trigger eruptions earlier than we may have
expected them," Gibson said, adding that he expected there to be many
small and large aftershocks
from the earthquake.
Scientists on Wednesday raised the alert level for Anak Krakatoa and
Tangkuban Prahu -- which regularly spew gas and rumble -- from "normal" to
"warning," the middle of three alert levels. This means the volcanoes are
declared off-limits to hikers, but authorities are not ordering the
evacuation of villagers living on their slopes.
The exodus from the slopes of Talang in Sumatra reflects the
nervousness of people living on the island, the northern tip of which was
devastated by the December 26 earthquake and tsunami. Rumors spread by
mobile phone text messages warning of more earthquakes, tsunami and
volcanic eruptions have added to panic on the island.
The 9,186-foot mountain was spewing ash 1,640 feet into the air
Wednesday, but not as high as a day earlier, when the clouds reached 3,280
feet, said Surono, from a government-run volcanology center in Bandung,
West Java province.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the region in west Sumatra,
some 560 miles northwest of Jakarta, on Wednesday to meet with refugees in
temporary camps.
（Agencies) |
最近，饱受天灾摧残的苏门答腊岛上的一座火山突然喷发，岛上约25000人被迫撤离，时隔仅一天，科学家们又向徒步旅行者和游客们发出警告，提醒他们不要靠近印度尼西亚的另外两座火山。
印尼火山学家上周三说，安放在苏门答腊岛南端的喀拉喀托火山和爪哇岛上的唐库班珀拉胡火山山坡上的传感器检测到这两座火山的活动在加剧，而且气体也在积聚。
上周二，位于苏门答腊岛的塔蓝山火山喷出大片火山灰，冲入云霄。约有25000人逃离该地区，目前只能呆在临时搭建的帐篷和建筑物内。
火山学家们称不断加剧的火山活动可能与最近发生在苏门答腊岛的一系列地震有关，其中包括3月28日发生在偏远的尼亚斯岛的地震，在那次地震中共有600人丧生。
澳大利亚堪培拉地震学研究中心的加里·吉朴森上周二在接受美国有线电视网采访时说：“第一次的地震将这些联系起来。那次地震太剧烈了，我们只能希望半年之后一切都能恢复正常。”
吉朴森说：“地球受到的压力会影响火山，而压力的变化可能会导致火山早于我们的预期喷发。”他还补充说，他认为地震之后会有许多大小不一的余震。
上周三，科学家们将喀拉喀托火山和唐库班珀拉胡火山的警戒度由“正常”提高到“警告”，三级警戒的中间等级，因为这两座火山近来定期喷出火山灰，并发出隆隆的声音。这意味着这些火山已不能对徒步旅行者开放，但政府并没有要求住在山坡上的居民撤离。
居住在苏门答腊岛塔蓝山火山山坡上的居民已经开始大批撤离，反映出岛上居民的紧张不安。苏门答腊岛北端在去年12月26日的地震和海啸中被摧毁。通过手机短信散布的流言警告说可能会有更多的地震、海啸和火山爆发，这也加剧了岛上的慌乱。
在政府管理的火山学中心工作的苏若努说，这座9186英尺高的火山上周三喷出的火山灰高达1640英尺，但仍不如前一天的喷发高度——3280英尺。该火山学中心位于爪哇西部的万隆。
印尼总统苏西洛上周三来灾区视察，这里地处苏门答腊岛西部，离首都雅加达西北约560英里，他还探望了住在临时帐篷里的难民。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-04-18 09:59
